Fading Innocence
by blackftp
Summary: Luffy reunites with his crew after two years, but Zoro notices something different. Will Luffy confide in Zoro? And will their close bond become something even deeper?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoy this fanfic. I might make it multichapter, i don't know yet. Depending on how things go, this might even have a ZoLu pairing, as that is one of my fav pairings. For now they're just in the bit-more-than-just-friends stage.**

**This story is based on what really happened when they reunited on sabaody, but i changed some things. **

**For example, everyone is already on the ship before Luffy arrives.**

**I kept the Franky hair-changing part though. :)**

**This whole story is when the sunny is still docked, and not going to fishman island yet.**

**Sorry about the rambling...ON WITH THE STORY!**

* * *

Post two-year time-skip…

Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 41 - lawless zone.

* * *

"OIIIIIIIIIIIII! MINAAAAAA!"

Eight heads snapped up, searching for the source of that voice. It had been two years since they'd all heard that voice,

Two.

Whole.

Years.

Slowly, a giant bird came into view, and riding it was the man they had been waiting for: their infamous pirate captain, Monkey D. Luffy.

Nami felt tears welling up in her eyes as she started waving frantically at him.

Sanji grinned, and took a huge drag from his cigarette.

Franky shouted, "SUPERRRRRR~~" and jumped into the biggest "typical franky pose" he could think of.

Usopp and Chopper just started bawling right then and there, overjoyed as they gasped and held onto each other.

Brook yelled up to Luffy, "Luffy-san, I have missed you SO MUCH! Yohohohohoho~"

Robin smiled and giggled slightly, "We're finally all back together."

Zoro stared up at Luffy, with an unreadable expression on his face.

As the bird dropped Luffy off on the deck of the Thousand Sunny, Chopper, Usopp, and Brook rushed forward and suffocated him with a giant group hug. The others crowded around, laughing as the three clung to Luffy like he was their lifeline. When they finally stepped back to give him some space, Luffy brushed himself off and slowly stood up. The air suddenly became tense as they saw that his signature straw hat was covering his eyes. Was something wrong?

Franky was about to speak up, when suddenly, Luffy looked up and flashed everyone his widest grin.

"I really missed you guys!"

They realised how much they had missed that grin, and smiled in relief at him.

The tension cleared up as Luffy went back to his normal self. He greeted everyone, listening to Brook's newest song, laughing with Chopper and Usopp, getting Nami annoyed and laughing it off. When he got to Franky, he stopped, blinked, and his mouth dropped open.

"Su-GEHHHHHHHHH! FRANKY, Y-YOUR BODY. THERE MUST BE TONS OF NEW WEAPONS. SHOW THEM TO MEEEEEE!"

Franky laughed, and said in a mechanical voice, "Press my nose for three seconds -mecha."

Luffy was trembling with excitement and anticipation as he reached up to poke Franky's nose.

One.

Two.

Three.

BOINGGG~~ Franky's hair changed into a new style, going from braids, to an afro.

"WAHHHHHHHH," Luffy jumped back, with stars in his eyes, and shouted, "SHOW ME MORE!"

Zoro, who had been hanging around the back of the crowd, leaned against a railing as he watched Luffy fuss over Franky's new inventions.

His one eye looked Luffy over, taking in the blue shorts, red long-sleeved shirt that was open in the front, and yellow sash at the waist. His aimless stare wandered from the same old sandals, to the raven locks dangling slightly over his eyes. Zoro's eye finally focused on the x-shaped scar on his chest, a memento from the war two years ago.

A war where he hadn't been there to help Luffy.

Zoro continued to study Luffy in detail. Luffy acted exactly the same as he did two years ago. His wide smile was the same as always, and Zoro could tell it was genuine. However, he could sense that something was different.

As he was trying to figure out what it was, Luffy turned his attention from Franky to him. As their eyes met, Zoro's breath caught in his throat from what he saw. Zoro could tell because it was something he had seen before. He had seen it in his own eyes, a long time ago. It was faint, but still present nonetheless.

It was sadness.

Zoro started, then bowed his head quickly, shuffled off and disappeared into the kitchen.

The smile slid of Luffy's face as he turned to Sanji.

"What happened to Zoro? I didn't even get to talk to him yet."

Sanji snorted in exasperation, "Leave it to the moss-head to ruin a reunion. Maybe he just needs some space."

Luffy frowned, but shrugged it off. He decided he would talk to Zoro later.

* * *

Zoro sat on one of the benches in the kitchen, his three swords splayed out in front of him. Staring at them, he noticed Kitetsu needed some polishing. Picking up his swords, he left the kitchen and went straight to the ladder leading up to the crow's nest. Stepping into the circular room, he took in his surroundings, and realised how homesick he had been while training with Mihawk. Everything was exactly the same as how he had left them two years ago. Finding his tools, he sat down on the floor with a sigh, and began polishing his swords. As he worked, his mind drifted back to Luffy.

Had he really seen that look in Luffy's eyes just now? Looking down from the glass windows overseeing the whole deck, Zoro saw Luffy playing with Usopp on the swings. He looked so happy, so carefree, so...Luffy. Maybe he had just imagined it. If that had really been sadness in his eyes, Zoro could only think of one reason for it.

Ace.

Zoro frowned. Was Luffy still grief-stricken over his brother's death? It had already been two years, and Luffy just didn't seem like that type of person.

Zoro was so concentrated on his work and his thoughts, that he didn't notice the hatch door open, and someone climb into the crow's nest.

* * *

**Chapter 1: done!**

**PLEASE tell me what you guys think. I completely accept constructive criticism, just be nice**

**I will definitely continue this depending on what you guys say**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here****'****s chapter 2! Yup, this is definitely a multichapter one. I****'****m not gonna make each chapter too long though, because I want to spread things out a bit.**

**Please enjoy and review!**

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**_Previously..._**

_...Zoro was so concentrated on his work and his thoughts, that he didn__'__t notice the hatch door open, and someone climb into the crow__'__s nest..._

* * *

The hatch door clanged open as someone climbed up and into the crow's nest.

Startled, Zoro jolted and spun around, hands instinctively reaching for his katana. He had been too engrossed in his previous thoughts to sense anyone coming up. _This just shows that I still need more training with my__haki. I can become stronger,_he thought as he prepared to cut down whoever had just entered.

Seeing who it was, he breathed a sigh of relief, his stance visibly relaxing.

"Oh, it's just you, Brook. Do you need something?"

Said person timidly stood up and replied, "Um...Sanji-san told me to tell you it's time for lunch. He said if you didn't come down, you could just _'eat the moss on your head_'."

Zoro sighed and slowly got up. "Hmph, that shitty-cook." Grumbling under his breath, he followed Brook down the ladder and sauntered across the deck towards the kitchen.

Brook had gone to inform the others, so Zoro decided to go in first. He headed towards the door, and had his hand on the doorknob when he heard a far-off yell, getting closer and louder by the second.

"Gomu-gomu noooooooooo~~"

Stiffening at the familiar phrase, Zoro instantly braced for impact, knowing he couldn't avoid what was about to happen.

"ROCKET!"

Zoro had just enough time to turn his head and see the insane grin plastered on Luffy's face hurtling towards him like a meteor, before it smashed into him and knocked them both flying into the kitchen.

They crashed onto the dining table in the middle of the room, ruining all the food that had been carefully prepared by Sanji.

Plates, bowls, drinking glasses, all were pushed off the table. Sanji was too far away to catch them, and they hit the floor with an ear-splitting crash of shattering glass.

Heaps of steaming hot food flew through the air and landed onto the entire unsuspecting crew seated around the table.

When the ruckus had finally ended, the entire kitchen was in disarray.

Chopper ran around, arms flailing and frantically screaming, "Cola in my eyes, COLA IN MY EYES! We need a doctor!….…oh wait THAT'S ME! AHHHHH!"

Robin repeated soothing words and steadily guided him towards the sink so that he could rinse his eyes.

Usopp was calming a distraught Brook, who had sticky food stuck in his hair.

"Stop complaining, this isn't even a big deal Brook! It's just food, it'll wash right out."

"But Usopp-san, this food is sticky. Look, it won't come out!"

"Then I guess we'll just have to cut it—"

"NO. My afro must NEVER be cut, Usopp-san! If I do, how will Laboon recognise me?!"

Franky stood with his arms crossed, looking for his cola. After a while, he just shrugged. "Oh whatever." He opened the compartment in his stomach and took out another chilled bottle.

Luffy got up from the table where he and Zoro had landed, and picked off the food and broken glass from his clothes.

"Shishishishi~ Sorry, sorry, you guys. I was excited about tasting Sanji's food for the first time in two years."

Suddenly, the air turned cold and Luffy turned around to see Sanji and Nami towering over him. A dark aura engulfed them, and their faces were twisted with rage.

"**LUFFYYYYYY…."**

Luffy gulped and backed up against the wall like a cornered animal as the pair slowly advanced. Nami cracked her knuckles and Sanji readied his foot.

"G-guys..I'm r-really sorry, ok? Guys..?"

For the next five minutes, the screaming could be heard all the way to the edges of the grand-line.

* * *

"Yoshhh! Thanks for helping clean up the mess, guys. Most of the food is ruined, but some of the dishes were saved. Just give me thirty minutes. I'll cook some more food because I know **one** shitty bastard will keep begging for more anyways," Sanji said while he glared accusingly at Luffy.

"Swowwy Swanji, Nawi." Luffy's words were muffled because of his swollen face from the beating earlier.

"Yeah, yeah. Now everyone, out of my kitchen!"

* * *

Zoro was last to leave the kitchen, following the others out. All other crew members had run off to change their dirty clothes, do their own thing, and wait for lunch (again). As he stepped out into the pool of sunshine on the deck, he squinted and stretched.

Relaxing again, he sighed. "So…what should I do now?" he said to himself.

He had been occupied with helping clean up the mess in the kitchen, but now he suddenly recalled the moment he had shared with Luffy.

_*Flashback_

_After crashing through the door and into the kitchen, they finally stopped from the cushion of the plates._

_Zoro was splayed out in the middle of the dining table, amid the mess of food, with his head turned sideways. He felt a weight pressing on him, but he found it wasn't too heavy. Zoro slowly looked up to see Luffy spread on top of him, their faces inches away from each other. He was surprised to see Luffy gazing at his face__— __actually, at the scar on his eye. Zoro was frozen, unable to think or react properly. He had never seen Luffy's eyes so deep and intense as they probed at his own. Although in reality it lasted for just a brief moment, it was as if time had stopped. They were either in a trance, or a staring contest, and all of it ended when Luffy finally blinked._

_Zoro's brain started functioning again, and he let out a breath he hadn't __realised __he had been holding. Suddenly realising how awkward this must have looked, he looked away and quickly pushed Luffy off of him with a grunt. As he stood up, Luffy__'__s expression changed, and he shook with laughter, seeming to forget what he had just been doing. He cleaned up some of the food and broken glass on his clothes._

"_Shishishishi~ Sorry, sorry, you guys. I was excited about tasting Sanji__'__s food for the first time in two years.__"_

_Zoro, however, was still lying on the table, trying to comprehend if what had just happened was real._

_*End of Flashback_

Shaking his head as if to clear the memory, Zoro walked into the men's cabin to get changed. Opening the door, he saw Usopp and Luffy look up at him in the middle of changing, and he quickly averted his eyes.

"Oh, heyyy Zoro! Me, Luffy, Franky, and Robin are going to go play cards later. Wanna join?" Usopp asked.

"No, that's fine. Before lunch, I'm going to try to work in some training time."

Usopp pouted. "Ok, suit yourself. See you!"

Luffy didn't say a word or even make eye contact as he dashed out of the room, with Usopp following closely behind.

Zoro narrowed his eyes. _And now he's avoiding me. Even if it's been a while since I've last seen him, I know Luffy would definitely have dragged me to go play cards with him. What the hell is going on?_

* * *

**Chapter 2 finished!**

**Guys, that flashback scene took forever to write, because I was debating whether there should be implied romance or something. Still deciding, but I'm actually leaning towards non-romantic. Who knows, it could change in future chapters****…**

**Btw, I'm being a complete hypocrite, because I personally hate cliffhangers, but I keep ending my writing with them. I don't know, it just feels right.**

**Anyways, as mentioned in the beginning, please review and follow for more! Thanks for reading**


	3. Chapter 3

**Anddddd Chapter 3 is up!**

**Not much to say except characters may seem OOC at some times. Trying to keep everyone as in character as possible.**

**Hope you like it!**

* * *

**Previously...**

Zoro narrowed his eyes. _And now he's avoiding me. Even if it's been a while since I've last seen him, I know Luffy would have dragged me to go play cards with him. What the hell is going on?_

* * *

After Luffy and Usopp had left the cabin, Zoro changed his food soaked clothes and headed out again. Closing the door behind him, he leaned against it while trying to decide what he should do next. Since he had just over a half hour before lunch, he decided that he would take a quick nap, and that his training could wait for later.

Zoro strolled across the deck, walking straight past the group that was gathering to play cards. He saw Brook sitting on the bench attached to the mast. He looked like he had been drinking tea, but fell asleep in the middle of it.

Making a b-line for his favourite spot where he liked to nap, Zoro plopped down, his katana clattering on the surface next to him. He figured that overthinking this thing with Luffy, whatever it was, probably wasn't a good idea. Knowing him, this whole situation would blow over soon. Lounging on the comfortable grass, with the sunshine on his face, and the sound of water cresting against the side of the ship, Zoro let himself relax. His head drooped forward, and his one eye slowly started to slide close.

About fifteen minutes later, Zoro was rudely woken from his slumber when he heard loud voices on the other side of the deck.

"OW! My cards this time are SUPER! I am so winning this one." Franky's voice boomed throughout the ship.

Usopp laughed nervously, "He-he-he…yeah, so are mine."

"It's not a good thing to lie during a game, Usopp."

"EH?! How did you kno-Hey, no fair, you can't use your ability during the game. That's cheating!" Usopp swatted at his shoulder where an eye had appeared.

Smiling her small smile, Robin shook her head and giggled quietly. Suddenly, a hand stretched out and tried to take some of Franky's cards.

"HEY! Luffy, what do you think you're doing?" Franky held his cards away and out of reach.

Luffy's retracted his arm and tilted his head to one side, confused.

"I thought the point was to take as many of the good cards as possible."

Eyes bulging out of his head, Usopp yelled, "THAT'S NOT EVEN HOW YOU PLAY! LEARN THE RULES ALREADY!"

As their loud conversation continued on, Zoro's eye twitched slightly and he snapped his head around to tell them off.

"Would you people keep it down, I'm trying to take a nap!"

Usopp muttered, "Yeah, well what else is new?" And everyone started snickering.

Zoro snarled and replied, "You son of a—"

"OH YEAH! Zoro, I thought you were going to go train or something." Usopp said, quickly changing the subject. "Now that you aren't, you wanna join us?"

Stopping the clever comeback that he had in mind, Zoro paused and thought._ It's almost time for lunch anyways. Might as well play a couple of games._

"Yeah, whatever. Why not." Zoro shrugged his shoulders and got up slowly.

Franky put his cards down. "Yosh, we'll start a new game. And Luffy, this time you better play the **actual** version, or we're kicking you out."

Picking up his katana and sliding them back in the loop on his robe, Zoro walked over towards the group. He slid down the side of the railing, and sat down in between Robin and Franky. In the middle of the circle, a pair of hands were expertly shuffling the cards, using all sorts of fancy moves a dealer would make at a casino.

"Whoaaa Robin, that's so cool!" gushed Usopp.

"Robinnn~" Luffy whined, "Let me try."

As his arm stretched out to grab the deck, it accidentally whacked Robin's hand, and the cards were knocked out and flew in every direction.

Usopp sighed, "Good job, Luffy. You better pick them all up."

As Luffy ran around collecting them all, he saw one card had landed on Zoro's lap. Luffy stretched his arm out to retrieve it. When he flipped it over, he saw that it was the Ace of Spades. Zoro tried to search Luffy's face for any kind of reaction, but found that Luffy wasn't even looking at him. Luffy handed the deck of cards back to the pair of hands, and sat back down, hat covering his eyes. Even though the others hadn't seen what card it had been on Zoro's lap, they sensed something weird had happened. Besides the sound of cards being shuffled, there was an awkward silence.

Franky looked around the circle at everyone's uncomfortable faces, and was about to speak when the kitchen door banged open and Sanji called out, "Nami-swannn Robin-chwannn it's time for lunchhhh!"

Then seeing the others, he said, "Oh, right. You losers too, it's lunchtime. And DON'T YOU DARE USE YOUR GOMU ROCKET AGAIN, LUFFY," before slamming the door shut.

Luffy immediately brightened up and ran (normally this time) into the kitchen, dragging Usopp with him. The others followed behind.

* * *

Everything was the same as two years ago, when it came to eating. Sanji was serving the food, and Franky and Brook were seated at the benches on the side instead of the main table. Nami was yelling at Luffy whenever he stretched his arm out for other people's food, and Robin was chuckling on the side. Chopper was listening with his mouth wide open while Usopp told his story of Boin Island adventures during the past two years. Everyone had stopped what they were doing to listen as well.

"Now, listen to the tale of the manly Captain Usopp! You should have seen how many wild insects and plants there were! It was amazing! And there were these seeds called Pop Greens that Heracles'n sensei trained me how to use. I'll show it to you guys later when we get the chance!"

"Who's Heracles sensei?"

"It's Heracles'n sensei. He's just some guy who lives on the island. Anyway, there were these HUGE man-eating plants, but there were also these plants that were made of food! After I ate lots of it, I became so fat that I looked like Luffy when he uses his balloon technique."

"Yohohoho Usopp-san you got **that** fat? That would be funny to see," Brook chuckled.

"Ahahaha yeah, but because of that, I trained and ran so much that I get to look as fit and manly as I am now," Usopp straightened and proudly showed off his muscles.

"You don't even know what a lot of running means, Usopp," Sanji muttered. "I endured hell for two whole years, running and running and running…." He stared ahead in horror, remembering the terrifying creatures that had chased him nonstop everyday.

Usopp laughed. "What are you talking about?"

Sanji turned away, shivering from the memories. "Maybe I'll tell you guys later. Right now I can't…" he trailed off into silence.

"Okay…" Turning to Chopper, Usopp asked, "So what happened to you?"

Chopper brightened, saying, "Oh! I landed on an island with a really big library, and studied everything I could about medicine! And I've perfected almost all my transformations except for one!"

Brook spoke up, "And I've really been working hard on my music! Luffy-san, the song I played for you earlier was one of my greatest hits "Bone to be wild"!"

Luffy, who was stuffing his face with food, couldn't speak and just grinned and nodded at Brook.

Brook turned to Zoro, "So what about you, Zoro-san?"

Zoro put down his drinking glass and replied, "I just trained. A lot." He avoided talking about being trained by Mihawk. He didn't want to tell the others about how he had begged him on his knees, and how embarrassing that had been for him. Even though it had all been for Luffy.

"Oh. I see. Yohoho," Brook said awkwardly.

Nami changed the subject. "I was up on one of the sky islands, actually. I learned all about weather science and created some new techniques on my clima-tact!"

"You were in the sky? That's so cool!" Franky exclaimed. "I have made some SUPER modifications to the Sunny! You should definitely check out the modified soldier dock system later!"

As Chopper and Usopp bombarded Franky with questions about the new weapons, Nami turned to Robin.

"So Robin, I heard that you were actually with the Revolutionary Army! How did that happen?"

"I trained with them during my two years. Oh! And about that, Luffy, I need to tell you about someone I met in the Revolutionary Army."

Nami nodded. "Okay then."

Everyone in the kitchen turned to look at Luffy, the last remaining person who had not spoken a thing since he had started eating. Usopp was about to open his mouth to ask Luffy about his adventures, when the words caught in his throat and they all remembered one thing. Not just them, but everyone in the world knew what had happened to Luffy while the Straw Hats were separated. Right now, Luffy seemed completely oblivious to the stares and looks his crew was giving him. He just kept on eating and eating while the silence dragged on.

* * *

_"The eyes are the window to the soul"_

As Zoro stared at Luffy from across the table, he thought about this particular phrase, and how perfectly it fit Luffy. When people first met Luffy, they would take one look at him and think he was some weak idiot teenager incapable of being serious at all. His eyes were so blissfully ignorant, accompanied by his too-wide grin. Many people just thought this of him, as a happy-go-lucky kid with just the one layer, nothing else underneath. Zoro had to admit this is what he had thought of Luffy at first as well.

After spending time with Luffy, although this was the side Luffy showed most of the time to everyone, Zoro knew there was so much more. When he was serious in battle, his eyes would show concentration, pure determination, strength, and the will to live and protect everyone he loved.

Watching Luffy eating, avoiding conversation, with his eyes downcast so that no one could see them, all of Zoro's annoyance and confusion about Luffy's actions just exploded. He abruptly stood up, toppling the chair he was sitting on, and slammed his drink down on the table, breaking the glass.

"LUFFY! WOULD YOU JUST. SAY. SOMETHING!"

Everyone's eyes widened and they turned to stare, mouth-agape at Zoro. It was extremely rare to see him lose his temper like this, and especially at their captain.

Seconds past, and Luffy still had not moved from his position, although he had stopped eating. Zoro glared furiously at him, before grabbing a bottle of booze and walking out of the kitchen.

He stormed into the aquarium bar and slumped down onto one of the couches. _What the hell was that? That is so unlike me. I have almost never lost my temper like that before. I was just really pissed off from all the mixed-signals Luffy keeps giving off._

As his thoughts rambled on, he noticed someone enter the aquarium bar and stand in front of him. He looked up to see Sanji.

"Hey marimo-head, I don't know what's going on here but Luffy's looking for you." Sanji said before going back to the kitchen.

Zoro sighed. _Yeah, it figures._

He got up from the couch and walked towards the door when he saw another person walk in again.

"Oh, Zoro. I didn't know you'd be in here. I thought you'd be in the crow's nest." He took a deep breath.

"I need to talk to you."

* * *

**UGHHHHHHH. **

**It's extremely hard to keep Luffy in character in this kind of situation. At least it's finally time for Luffy to do some explaining to Zoro.**

**This is like the last chance for you readers to tell me whether I should do it platonic or romantic. You don't even have to type much, just "romantic", or "platonic" in the review box is fine. It would be really helpful!**

**Thanks for the reviews so far, and I hope I get some new ones!**


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